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I behalf of the Clark County Commission
we would like to present you with this

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proclamation recognizing your work with
this project the entire Board of County

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Commissioners honored the organizers of an
extraordinary international art crusade

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the anniversary of one October is

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a time to reflect and remember and artists
from around the globe express their love

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and talents on canvas crosses jewels and
displays Courtney and I created the Las

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Vegas portraits project in the early days
following the want to attack we were just

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coming off the heels of

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a similar project honoring those who perished
in the Orlando night club attack and

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I was grieving the rather Southern loss of
my father we immediately wanted to help

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the improbable Las Vegas portrait display
was conceived and spearheaded by two

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women Elena Bravo and her cousin Courtney
who are thousands of miles away in

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Nazareth Pennsylvania when the one October
attack darkened our city that two

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artists put out

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a Facebook call for other artists searching
for talented volunteers to create

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masterpieces of the deceased their
assignments draw and paint portraits of the

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fifty eight lives lost I'm

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a stay at home mom but I do social media
and so we largely based our organization

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on

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a social media page and created an e-mail
account an application process and I hunted

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down some good artists online and asked
some talented family members. Out to the

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local news station in my
community and got quite

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a few artists that way and then before I
knew it we were getting artists from other

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countries when I look at this portrait
it's right behind me here. I see that

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American flag and I think about those last
moments with him at Route ninety one and

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I'll never forget that I have chills just
talking about it right now California

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visitor Mary Jo Vaughn Tylo and her family
were in attendance at the route ninety

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one festival last year and my husband Kurt
Montell who was one of the fifty eight

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that died on that night on October first
we were there with her family enjoying the

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route ninety one concert my daughter my son
in law Kurt sister our niece three out

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of six of us were shot that night my family
has really struggled since that night

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our recovery is ongoing

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a big part of our healing though has been
the outreach for so many people around

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the world including Ellen in the Las Vegas
Portrait Project this was so touching

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for our family and to see these fifty eight
angels on the wall behind me just all

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together is so empowering another part
of the profoundly emotional exhibit is

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a display of crosses you may recall an
Illinois man Greg Xanthus constructed and

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delivered the fifty eight memorials to
Las Vegas last year within days there

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appeared among us

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a carpenter from Aurora Illinois named
Greg Zahn us he drove across the country

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with

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a truck full of white crosses and when he
arrived he parked by our economy welcome

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sign Welcome to Las Vegas sign and police
officers and even family members of the

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victims helped him on load is

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a gift to our community that crosses work
later on display at the Clark County

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Museum and will remain as part of the
museum's permanent collection astute

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observers will notice that only
fifty three crosses are shown

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a handful of families requested and received
the wooden symbols that bear the names

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of their loved ones the Evil inflicted by
one individual was met with an amazing

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amount of love and goodwill from around the
world. In the aftermath of the shooting

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and over the last year we have continued
to be inspired by the countless examples

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of humanity at its best we truly are
Vegas stronger the organizers and the

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artists will offer the families the
portraits after the show closes on October

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nineteenth until then the Clark County
Government Center welcomes the public to

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view this important show that government
center is open from seven am to five pm

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Monday through Friday.